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CardinalM1 t1_ixkh0ur wrote

Reply to comment by pianomanzano in Two Philly developers think Atlantic City can look more like Amsterdam with the help of a $3 billion housing development by Dryheavemorning

Amsterdam's red light district is actually nice. It's basically a tourist area. Grab a bite to eat, watch tourists walking around, and cheer on the guys and girls negotiating fees for sex!

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Little_Noodles t1_ixkkwx7 wrote

Oh, yeah, sounds super nice.

I’m all for legalization, and there’s certainly worse examples, but don’t romanticize Amsterdam’s handling of it.

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CardinalM1 t1_ixkmneu wrote

I don't think the article makes the point you're trying to make.

For one thing, the article isn't specifically talking about sex work; it's talking about people who are exploited in "construction, agriculture, transport, sex and catering industries, as well as amongst people forced by criminals to beg".

Also, the article credits the Netherlands as handling this well:

>The Australian report ranks the Dutch government as having one of the world’s strongest responses to modern slavery

I lived in the Netherlands for 6 months and can tell you from first-hand experience that Atlantic City is in MUCH worse shape than Amsterdam.

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Snertmetworst t1_ixmr149 wrote

I am from the Netherlands and i live in Philly now and have been to Atlantic City and I can vouch for this. To get AC to look like Amsterdam they'd neeeed a lot more than 3 billion.

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SantorumsGayMasseuse t1_ixkm5td wrote

Oh boy wait till you see how America does in that ranking. Sounds like it would fit right in.

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Little_Noodles t1_ixkmujq wrote

I mean, I’m the one that linked the report. I saw the U.S. on there.

How is the U.S. having a dodgy track record on human trafficking and slavery an argument FOR adopting a district ALSO associated with human trafficking and slavery?

Like, I’d get it if we were knocking it out of the park - yeah, it’s a problem there, but we’re really good at this. But we’re not that good at this.

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PotatoPlank t1_ixkphdd wrote

>How is the U.S. having a dodgy track record on human trafficking and slavery an argument FOR adopting a district ALSO associated with human trafficking and slavery?

The point is the article you linked references a study that doesn't distinguish between types of slavery you can't reasonably use that to draw your conclusion. Especially when they rate the United States as having three times the vulnerability index to the Netherlands, and almost 14 times the number of modern slaves

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SantorumsGayMasseuse t1_ixkofpp wrote

I'm really just being facetious. I'm not for or against it, I think what's being proposed is impossible. Dumping a bunch of money into Atlantic City is not going to turn it into Amsterdam. The conditions that make Amsterdam a cool city, even if it does have a seedy underbelly at its center, are simply not present in the United States. It's not just 'canals and brothels.'

That said, I think it's pretty silly to pretend that what goes on in Amsterdam is uniquely evil. The same thing is going on in every facet of American culture

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